"There is no connection between Scientology beliefs and practices and any act taken by Kenneth Thompson at issue in the case," the statement read. "Nothing he did could be more opposed to our moral code."

means

"The defendant was driven insane by our abhorrent teachings, but it's not our fault he acted on them. As long as we use the phrase 'we don't teach that', our stochastic terrorism is perfectly legal."

Fabric_Man:"I had to kill these people because they were taking their child to a psychologist, and damaging his soul, according to Scientology!"Result: Conviction

"I had to kill these people because they were exposing their child to homosexuals, and damaging his soul, according to Christianity!"Result: Dismissal, with the apologies of the court

Difficulty: The countries that would excuse the murder of homosexuals for religious reasons? They aren't that keen on Christians either. The US would lock up your hypothetical Christian warrior and push for the death penalty.

DRTFA:"A highway trooper parked along the side of the highway looking for speeders sensed something odd about Thompson as he drove past and followed him long enough to find an excuse to pull Thompson over."

/ Standing by for the outrage that surely is coming.

If the reason that he pulled him over was frivolous enough would that have excluded the evidence found in the car? Just because this trooper hit the lottery once doesn't make it good practice or legal to operate on spidey-sense. This guy wasn't targeting any more victims and would have been tied to the crime via other crap within 24 hours.

So a religious zealot kills an innocent couple so he can kidnap two children that are being well taken care of because HIS religion doesn't subscribe a couple of things they do? Beliefs are not law to anyone other than him and people that belong to the religion.

These RZ's are more than happy to dole out their religions punishments on people that don't even subscribe to their religion. The religious are becomming more unstable by the day.

To be fair to his legal team, we don't know that the defense has failed. He's eligible for the death penalty. This defense was about mitigating punishment, not getting an acquittal, and his punishment hasn't yet been determined.

No idea about just America, but I've noticed there's a trend among cult folks that they really, REALLY like the idea that the universe has its own plot narrative just for them. Lots of scientific information out there, but it's a bit droll to research and learn and makes you realize how small and insignificant you may be on the cosmic scale?

Nah, they walk right away from that. Instead, they get "secret knowledge" about how either X or Y event/idea is actually false or fabricated or whatever BS they're pushing. They get to feel special that they're one of the lucky ones who has Hubbo's teachings/the 'one and only true word' of God/the secret to why vaccines are evil/the truth the world is flat/moon landing was a fake, etc. Cults draw on the same self of making people who believe them think they're somehow overly self-important for 'figuring it out', by which everyone else looks at it and sees that they're buying into delirium.

DRTFA:"A highway trooper parked along the side of the highway looking for speeders sensed something odd about Thompson as he drove past and followed him long enough to find an excuse to pull Thompson over."

/ Standing by for the outrage that surely is coming.

Not from me. My old Crim Law professor said you needed a system like the 4th Amendment that protected the populace from random police searches, but also allowed for the instincts of the trained policeman.

/the case we studied, the suspect had no visible bulges, etc, but the veteran cop KNEW he had a gun//could tell by the way he walked

DRTFA:"A highway trooper parked along the side of the highway looking for speeders sensed something odd about Thompson as he drove past and followed him long enough to find an excuse to pull Thompson over."

/ Standing by for the outrage that surely is coming.

For a pull over? Nope. I've been in plenty of "got pulled over because the cop wondered wtf this weirdo is up to" situations. As long as it's a polite stop to simply ascertain if you're up to trouble or not, nae problemo. Annoying, yes - but necessary. The outrage starts bubbling up in me when that turns into, "Well, I can't find anything wrong, but fark it let's trump up reasons, plant shiat, kick the fark out of people, and/or end up shooting." THAT'S when you'll get your outrage.